In medicine, science, engineering, and just about every other aspect of human endeavor, there is the need to measure the size of items. The object of the invention disclosed herein is to provide new methods and devices for the facile and accurate measurement of length, width, height, area, volume, curvature, and other dimensional features of various items, ranging from microscopic to enormous. The inventions disclosed herein are further directed to the measurement of distance, velocity, and very tall heights. The methods, systems, software, and devices provided herein provide the art with novel solutions for a variety of measurement problems.
In many situations, direct measurement of an object is not easily achieved. For example, the scale of an item can make its measurement difficult, as in the case of microscopic cells or tall trees. In other cases, accurate measurement is difficult to achieve, as in the case of irregularly shaped objects, such as skin lesions or plant leaves. In some situations, such as remote medicine, the item to be assessed and the persons capable of making the assessments are separated by great distance. In yet other cases, there is the need for a large number of measurements to be taken and it would be advantageous to have a means of quickly collecting massive amounts of measurement data, for examples, as in agriculture. Thus, there is a need in the art for solutions that solve these many problems. There is a need in the art for systems that allow for accurate measurement of items, for the convenient measurement of items, for the measurement of items that are remote, and for the fast measurement of multiple items.
The methods disclosed herein are readily implemented, in whole or in part, on mobile devices, for example, smartphones. The use of image-based measurement systems implemented on mobile devices to determine the dimensions of an object is known in the art. For example, the RulerPhone application, by Ben Kamens (2008), provides a mobile-phone based tool for the measurement of one-dimensional lengths using images acquired by the user. The invention disclosed herein provides novel features and methods not included in the prior art measurement tools which improve upon the accuracy, convenience, versatility, and usability of the prior art methods.
The invention disclosed herein provides methods, devices, and systems that address various measurement needs and which provide advantageous solutions in a wide variety of specific contexts, such as medicine, health and fitness, scientific research, engineering, and even novelty use.